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Investors willing to bet on China's economic rebound can head back to the country's favorite gaming tables in Macau. But be warned, the rules have changed. Annual revenue growth is unlikely to get back to the nearly 60% peak of recent years anytime soon, and the source of new growth is different. As a result, investors should pay attention to a new set of stocks. "Now you need to be very selective," says Anil Daswani, Citigroup's gaming analyst in Hong Kong.

By its previous standard, China's gambling capital has fallen on tough times. Growth in gross gaming revenues in Macau has slowed to just over 15% this year, after soaring 58% in 2010 and 42% in 2011. The related shares have dropped 15% to 30% since peaking early this year. An unexpected drop in the number of VIP junkets for high rollers, who kick in nearly two-thirds of casinos' gross revenues, was mainly to blame. The transition in government, a weaker economy, and junket operators' inability to access formerly cheap financing all contributed to the slowdown.

But with recent manufacturing figures suggesting a Chinese turnaround in 2013, investors should consider gaming plays. Credit Suisse's Asian gaming analyst Gabriel Chan says the more successful casinos can generate 20% to 25% in annual earnings growth over the next two to three years, which is very solid, if not quite the 40% levels a couple of years ago.

The big switch in casinos is where they get their money from. Increasingly, they rely on mass-market visitors, who now contribute more than 36% of revenue, from less than 30% two years ago. "The mass-market segment that is being driven by improving infrastructure continues to grow at stupendous pace," says Daswani.

In Macau's Cotai region, the rough equivalent of the Las Vegas strip, there was nearly 50% growth in mass-market revenue in the third quarter, a tough period for the Chinese economy. Though Cotai is just a 20-minute car ride from the main Macau peninsula, it offers a "sheer scale of real estate that can deal with the mass-market punter crowds that are pouring in from across the border in mainland China." Even though these bettors spend less, they are more profitable to the casinos than the VIP crowd because there's no junket operator to pay.

Daswani believes that three major catalysts will spur increased visitation from the mainland. Completion of the Guangzhou-Gongbei Gate Intercity Railway that travels to the Macau border, a doubling of immigration-handling capacity at the border, and relaxation of China's visa restrictions for frequent bettors.